create your own visited country map or write about it on the open travel guide

Thursday, October 07, 2004

Done already!

Finally!

After close to 18 hours of sleeplessness and knee-wrecking running around, the three videos are ready! Got to thank the tem for the effort. Learnt more about all three of them as persons, not just resources!

The cowboy is pretty good. Though young, he's quick and talented. The lady is irritatingly organized. And yaya papaya, pretty damn cool.

Went through a day filled to the brim with memories of TMG. The non-linear, the mark-in mark-out, the cross fades and flashes, the audio recording, song selection, the works! Almost felt like Adi and me were sitting tucked into blankets, with aravinda at the comp in the NLE suite! Chanel right across, glaring at Bodo and untiringly getting Breakthrough back on track. And assorted junta like Punnoose, Karthick, Smitha, and Kutty moving in and out. Sudeshna in the sound box with KC sitting outside, the bored look etched in place.

Praveen hollering at Hari on the teleprompter, partly because the anchors are finding it a wee bit too slow and mostly because Divya is trying really really hard not to flirt with Mark, who by the way, couldn't have been less interested.

One floor above, Satya in the team huddle with Gubburi, Pramila, Meera and Subba while the buffalo woman sits sulking in her corner. Omy lounging around in the monitoring room while the weasel keeps letching at Meera. Mo and the Biswas whispering conspiratorially in their corner while the Pandey keeps his eagle eye on everything and pretends to see nothing.

KP hammering away at her part of the script, all the while casting baleful glances at my empty seat, plotting the next crib to Pandey. Clueless dwarfman Mridul sitting around, trying to make sense of his outlook express. The fair slut casting eyes in his direction (I never, ever, to this day understood what she thought she would gain or even hoped to gain by associating with that despicable character!)

The dragon lady in her Den with her team around her, safe in the knowledge that as long as there were talented people like them around, she had nothing to fear. The creepy, nameless wonders in the laughable systems room, tucked right behind the door.

Surprisingly, I don't have any memories of the ground floor, except for the lobby, which used to have the toffees in the dish. Vaguely recall that ZOL used to sit there for the most part. Also remember Kranti and her minions (Hari Priya and the other mallu chap), the Wipro oldie with the roving eye and, when he happened to be in town, Sarkar.

Techmail remained a blur from the glitzy beginning to the flashy end and the building always felt alien. Other characters are mere ghosts roaming around without specific places to peg them to. Akash Oberoi, Basava, Varadan, Vinita, Preeti and the Karumbaya, Jessu, Paul and the likes.

Don't even want to discuss the disgusting ones like Annapurna. Surprise again! I can recall more people with fondness at TMG than at any other place I've been in.

Maybe that is why the entire thing died. It seems like a dream that was too good to last!


The Can Can Fund

It's been a long time since I've sat through an edit. Feels good, but in a nostalgic Catch-22ish sort of way. Things would have been very different if TMG had worked out as all of us had planned it. Anyways, too little time for regret now. The best times have been left behind.

Now all that remains, like a faithful companion, is misery. Misery when these guys refuse to give Chanel permission to do what she is really good at, misery when you know you can do better, if you only had that wee bit more of time, misery when folks across the ocean spend sleepless nights worrying about your well being...

Wonder who it was who said that life is a bitch... and then you die! Damn right!!

Monday, October 04, 2004

Und Chanel sagt...

Aaj pehli baar lagta hai jaise ki mein likhoon
Likhoon woh sab kuch zehan mein mere
Baar baar jo sochne par majboor kartee mujhe
Aisa kya hua ki bachpan jo kal tak yaheen tha
Aaj achanak alvida keh raha hai

Abhi kal hi ki baat thi sardi ka mausam tha,
Garam rajayee mein baithee,
Chai peete huae padhne ki koshish kar rahee thee
Tabhi telephone ki ghanti bajtee
Aur phir kitaab band aur shuru hotee
khoob saari idhar udhar ki betuki batein, bewajeh gupshup..

Ghanto hum baat karte,
Na jaane kya woh mausam tha
Ki baaten khatm hi nahi hoti
Matlab, maksad bina, aise hi bas

Aur phir jeb kharch ke naam par choubees rupaye
Woh bhi yaad hai mujhe
Yakeen hain ki koi college ke paas waale chole bhature,
Aur woh bus ke dhakke kabhi bhool nahi sakte
Tab sarkaar banee thee jab Atal Bihaari ki
Hum sub Khadi pehen kar parlaiment ke session discuss karte
aur phir Pramod Mahajan ke speech kole kar emotional hote

Jab padosi desh ne parmaanu bomb kee pareeksha kee
Dilli ki sadko par hum naare laga rahe the
Chappal ghis jatee
par sadkain kabhi khatam nahi hotee

Connaught place ke anginat chakkar
aur woh burger aur aloo chat
Shhaam hotee to bus stop par hum aise alvida kahte
jaise ki phir kabhi milenge hi nahi

Chaar paanch saal mein lagta hai
jaise ek arsaa guzar gaya
doston ka saath choota,
zindagi bas jaise college ke baad se ruk hee gayee

Kya aisa sab ke saath hota hai?
Ya, mein over react kar rahee hoon aaj?

Und Chanel sagt...

Aaj pehli baar lagta hai jaise ki mein likhoon
Likhoon woh sab kuch zehan mein mere
Baar baar jo sochne par majboor kartee mujhe
Aisa kya hua ki bachpan jo kal tak yaheen tha
Aaj achanak alvida keh raha hai

Abhi kal hi ki baat thi sardi ka mausam tha,
Garam rajayee mein baithee,
Chai peete huae padhne ki koshish kar rahee thee
Tabhi telephone ki ghanti bajtee
Aur phir kitaab band aur shuru hotee
khoob saari idhar udhar ki betuki batein, bewajeh gupshup..

Ghanto hum baat karte,
Na jaane kya woh mausam tha
Ki baaten khatm hi nahi hoti
Matlab, maksad bina, aise hi bas

Aur phir jeb kharch ke naam par choubees rupaye
Woh bhi yaad hai mujhe
Yakeen hain ki koi college ke paas waale chole bhature,
Aur woh bus ke dhakke kabhi bhool nahi sakte
Tab sarkaar banee thee jab Atal Bihaari ki
Hum sub Khadi pehen kar parlaiment ke session discuss karte
aur phir Pramod Mahajan ke speech kole kar emotional hote

Jab padosi desh ne parmaanu bomb kee pareeksha kee
Dilli ki sadko par hum naare laga rahe the
Chappal ghis jatee par sadkain kabhi khatam nahi hotee
Connaught place ke anginat chakkar aur woh burger aur aloo chat

Shhaam hotee to bus stop par hum aise alvida kahte
jaise ki phir kabhi milenge hi nahi
Chaar paanch saal mein lagta hai
jaise ek arsaa guzar gayadoston ka saath choota,
zindagi bas jaise college ke baad se ruk hee gayee

Kya aisa sab ke saath hota hai?
Ya, mein over react kar rahee hoon aaj?